1

The animals in the jungle ran away
when Tarzan appeared on the scene
it wasn't that he was stronger but rather
those four-legged creatures thought his semi-nakedness was obscene.

2
Food was scarce in a certain season
Tarzan went into a rage as Cheeta wanted all
he took his knife aimed at the cheeky chimp
and said:  this shall cause your downfall!

3

Tarzan and Jane-whatever you think-
were human and must yield to passion
their shelter in the tree shook every night
but the animals paid no attention

4

Jane loved to play with Cheeta
Tarzan liked to swing from tree to tree
since Cheeta's arrival their relationship suffered badly
as he turned green with envy

5
   Tarzan asked Jane where Hollywood was
   She replied: ' I worry about your failing memory
   Holy Wood is the jungle- habitat of your cousin Zantar
   his wife is Nancy--we once spent Christmas at their home named Ever-Free'.

1

Why was it that Tarzan
only did one loincloth wear?
answer:  
there was no clothes-shop there

2

Do you know Tarzan had a terrible phobia?
if you must know---it lasted for a long while-
a strong swimmer he was but  devastated by this condition
as once he was nearly swallowed up by an 8-metre crocodile

3      Bringing home Cheeta the naughty little chimpanzee
         was the idea of Jane
         who said to Tarzan--we had enough of each other--
         without Cheeta we would go insane!

4    
        Why was it Tarzan and Jane
        didn't raise a family?
         they were fighting the animal-poachers
         all day long--too busy!

5
          Of course Tarzan and Jane
          lived together in the tree
          they needed no beds
          but were content and happy

Forgetting
is harder
than remembering
the past has secret powers
and spellbinds you
it makes you
a captive
and demands attention:
surely you can't forget this?

in the far horizon
of your mind
dim and fuzzy at first
then the images
coalesce into visible forms
they stare right in your face
and you become
the past tense

none
indeed nothing
is stronger than the past

'I have forgotten the past'
who says that?
isn't that person
telling a lie?

They say :
discard the old
herald in the new
we are  easily misled
unless we are vigilant
we would be fooled

the new
is too often
a disguised
and revised version
of the old

but the vendors
of merchandise
the purveyors
of ideas and doctrines
are sugar-coaters
and how easily
we become suckers


they say
reject
and be ashamed
of the old
(people are watching you
  how deplorable and wretched
you look clinging to what went before
you are archaic and out-of-step
with the modern era--no wonder
you are frowned upon
and become the laughing-stock of those around you)

but I hold my ground
and to such I reply
I like the old clothes and shoes I wear
my little cottage known to none in the faraway
I love my old-fashioned values
honesty, compassion, tolerance, humility
fair-play,  tradition, decency,  loyalty and poverty

I am self-sufficient
in every way
and what you sell
I wouldn't buy
nor to your sweet words subscribe
lest they cause my moral demise
so leave me alone
to my old ways
and my quiet life
I am doing superbly fine.

LIFE: THROUGH  MY EYES

Forget, better still ignore
what the great philosophers had said
life is but a point of view
only I and I alone can shed

meaning from my experiences
unique, individual, lonely and tumultuous
life is in the singular and the roads
I have travelled are unknown to the multitudinous

no outsider heard me cry nor witnessed my tears
like a caged animal how often I had been trapped with my hands tied
also  imminently close to drowning and I struggled against the tide
my freedom to regain---every means I courageously tried

and promised myself with the words
'   I was not born to yield
   ( proud philosophy is no comfort nor succour)
    I  was victorious as I fought without fear in life's battle-field'.

1

You asked me
' Why does a bird sing?'
May I ask you
'  Can a bird fly with one wing?'

2
My friend is a philosopher
And this he said to me: Life is neither black nor white'
But I am illiterate and all I know is that
Life is just day and night.

3  

Why do you chuckle
Just because your neighbour's new Benz had a knock?
Why are you so churlish and callous
Are you a human being or an unfeeling rock?

4

Her shoes did not fit
Too large were her feet--she was frantic
None to blame but her cobbler-husband
Who had not acquired the requisite shoe-making technique.

5

Some have *** once a month, others weekly
Yet others everyday--what does it matter
To you? Let people be-
Why do you bother? You are an outsider!

Old age is not being
young but look at its luxuriant tree
where its fruits have ripened
and its leaves are still as green
it's the same breeze as of old
blowing above its head
and the sky is as blue
and bird-songs by night
are still as sweet
as reminders
that all life is wrapped in rapture
and earth has not lost its pristine  music and grandeur

each stage of life has its  untold splendour
only that the heart must feel and embrace love
and the mind be free and hasn't given up
in despondency (I've had enough of this chagrin-
drop that line)
say instead--
I love life and its endless beauty
I would still bathe in its sea of wondrous delight
I would bask under the sun amidst the dancing flowers
have conversation with the moon and stars late at night
I would still sing the songs I love
and give life to my violin- lest it thinks I have lost faith-
with my shaky hands I would write a poem or two-
never mind if they are frowned upon by others
I would still smile despite the wrinkles on my face
and my grey hair so conspicuous to the eye
I would share in the laughter of youth
among the middle-aged mingle
and with those in my twilight years
laugh at the folly and pride of my early days
and hear their stories spoken
with slow and subdued voices
but no less poignant

I am alive and not left behind
I am there in the arena of life
though not as a player
but  only a spectator

if you do see a silent tear
dropping from my eyes
just know-
it's the tear of gratitude and joy